Alliteration A Cupid`s Arrow Psychology Today

If Barbara were going to fall for one of three identical brothers, Allen, Barry or Charles, which would it be?

Assuming she had no aversion to the name, her top choice would probably be Barry. Likewise, Amy would want Allen and Charlotte would choose Charles.

Researchers Richard Kopelman and Dorothy Lang looked at the names of 42,457 married couples in the United States and found that alliteration -- choosing a partner whose first name begins with the same letter as one`s own -- ``exerts a statistically significant but small effect on mate selection.``

They gathered the names from marriage license applications, Who`s Who volumes and personnel records.

``Overall, the proportion of alliterative matches was greater than would be expected by chance,`` Kopelman and Lang say. When all the sources for the names were given equal weight, the number of alliterative names was 8.3 percent greater than chance, and when nicknames for nine common names were thrown in (Dick for Richard, Liz for Elizabeth), the incidence was 12 percent greater than chance.

Why is it that people with alliterative first names find each other appealing? ``Presumably, it is because alliteration sounds good, providing a connecting link between names,`` Kopelman and Lang say. ``Our assumption is that alliterative names are more aesthetically appealing and attractive sounding than non-alliterative names. Alliteration may also explain in part why Mickey Mouse was paired with Minnie and Daisy Duck with Donald.``